What Should I Feed My Sugar Glider?

Correct Diets for Captive Sugar Gliders

The Simple Answer: Begin with Exotic Nutrition's 'Glider Complete' Food Starter Package. This combination of high protein pellet, dried fruits and INSTANT-HPW powder will deliver everything nutritionally that your pet Sugar Glider requires. The two foods in this package set contain Eggs, Honey, Bee Pollen, ZooPro High Protein Supplement, high protein pellets, eight varieties of dried fruits and a host of other highly nutritious ingredients. Your Sugar Glider will love the Pure Vanilla Bean Flavor in the Instant-HPW. This diet plan is easy to prepare and easy to feed. Very economical, the cost is minimal for a 2.5 month supply. If you wish to vary the diet even more, you can also offer supplemental treats such as Canned or Live insects, Gumivore-Fare 'Jungle Jelly', or Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. Simple and easy to feed, this is a highly recommended diet plan that your Sugar Glider will enjoy eating.

The Complicated Answer: Many mammals (including humans) adapt to a wide variety of food sources. Mammals in general, can thrive by consuming proteins, fats, carbohydrates etc. in many different forms. Sugar Gliders are no exception. Certainly, any single food source that contains the exact nutrition necessary to sustain life would be adequate to keep them alive, but as you know, humans, and our animal friends, prefer to eat a variety of foods. Sugar Gliders do not prefer, nor are they healthier, eating the same food over and over again, day after day, week after week.

In the wild, Sugar Gliders use a wide variety of food sources. This varied diet provides adequate nutrition for their species to propagate and prosper.

If you have read or heard promotional material from Internet pet food companies, Sugar Glider sellers, or veterinarians - that hint of offering ‘only their food’ - then you have been exposed to a marketing ploy used to promote a product that company, breeder, or veterinarian is touting. This just is absolutely not accurate information. It is a ploy to get you to feed their brand of food. If Sugar Gliders thrived on only one specific type of extruded 'man made' food, then the wild populations of Sugar Gliders would diminish since a varied diet is exactly what they feed on in nature. The fact of the matter is, they survive just fine consuming blossoms, flower nectar, sap from eucalyptus trees, acacia gum, and insects when in their wild OR captive state.

So, why then do certain companies/veterinarians persist at informing the public that their food/vitamin is the only product that will keep Sugar Gliders healthy? The answer is simple, they have a financial interest in promoting a brand of food, and will attempt to persuade you into feeding only that product. They lower themselves to using scare tactics and providing false, misleading promotional videos to tout their product(s).

The fact of the matter is: Sugar Gliders can, and will, sustain adequate nutrition, and maintain healthy nutritional balance by using many different food sources. Just as humans can sustain excellent health by eating a variety fruits, vegetables, meats etc., Sugar Gliders do the same by eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, insects nectars, and other protein sources. They thrive on this diet in the wild and they thrive on it in captivity!

We here at Exotic Nutrition are appalled at the misinformation and misleading suggestions made by some self proclaimed 'experts' or Veterinarians with ties to the Sugar Glider trade. They remind us of doctors who push certain medications because of the ‘perks’ that pharmaceutical companies offer them. It really amounts to a conflict of interest.

We here at Exotic Nutrition maintain the belief that variety in the diet of a Sugar Glider is not only welcomed, but much more nutritionally complete than some extruded food products that are pumped out by machines and left to sit in warehouses for months or even years, losing the nutritional value, before it is shipped to you.

Exotic Nutrition Sugar Glider foods (we make 10 varieties) are produced fresh. Most ingredients used in the pelleting of our diets is grown locally, and the ones we can’t grow here in Virginia are imported from reliable sources abroad. The dried fruits used in our blends are human grade. Exotic Nutrition HPW blends are mixed right here in our warehouse by hand, as are most of our other foods and treats. We have been producing and supplying Sugar Glider foods to breeders, institutions, and pet owners worldwide for over 15 years with exceptional results.

In conclusion, we suggest that you follow common sense principles. Offer your pet Sugar Gliders quality foods that are fresh, a diet that contains the suggested nutritional balance required. Your Sugar Gliders will not only thrive, but they will flourish by consuming a healthy variety of fresh nutritional foods, rather than stale extruded foods day after day.

Please Note:Exotic Nutrition is not in a position to provide specific health and care guidelines on an individual basis. Please visit our animal info tabs or consider purchasing a care guide book for additional information. If you have a health or pet emergency issue, please notify your veterinarian or a specialized technician.

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